Have you got any waiting from me?

I do actually. I'll note you about it.

Oh thank you! I've been so hectic lately I've lost track of some e-mails and notes @@

Yeah, I get this, i have 6 comms that are years past due and 2 refunds that are promised every month.

Pretty simple rules to follow.
Comply with a fair and reasonable ToS within a respectable timeframe.
And if a person keeps making excuses for delaying art, refund and commission again at a later date.

A commission is a transaction.
If you aren't shown any proof of work or progress after an established amount of time, then you have the right to get refunded.
End of story.

You are not responsible for their life, etc.
You are responsible for keeping in check with your artist much like they are responsible for a timely service.

In my experience, this behaviour doesn't change enough to justify bringing your business back at a later date. It's often a flaw in a person's self management and discipline, generally speaking.

There are many factors that play a part in it.
Like you stated, it's a matter of discipline, or work ethic.
The most one can do is to ask others about an artist before commissioning them.
In the artist's position, I wouldn't know good measures to take to prevent untimely services.
Though everything would just point back to discipline, and understanding that it's a JOB when an artist chooses to take commission work.
Many still treat it like a hobby; usually being lax about finishing their work in a timely manner.
Other times they can overestimate the amount of work they can do quickly and effectively without burning themselves out, in thus, causing the hiccup of looking bad for having to give out refunds for being unable to complete their work load.

Freelance artists all vary in such a broad range, so it's never quite 20/20 on who is trustworthy, worth the wait, reasonable, etc. You just have to build up trust with the artists/commissioners overtime to establish a true evaluation if one's work is being effectively and efficiently managed and produced. T'is a big topic to try and summarize. ^^;

Please do not do that. Not that it isn't right. Because it absolutely is, but because its against FA ToS and you will get suspended or banned even. Its stupid.

Which part do you believe is against the ToS?

Calling out specific users is not allowed on FA. Artists beware is what you want.

It isn't a call out. It's a literally a list of art that I'm owed.

In the journal you say that the list will contain the artists involved, which is what the admins take issue with.

I post a list of the art that I commission on my profile as soon as a payment is made.. artist's name included. Done mostly for my own memory more than anything, but seeing the length of time is also a benefit I guess (despite my not posting a date).

The rule is specifically against call out posts, not linking other users.

It's a record, not a call out. By your loose definition of a call out, people wouldn't even be able to link to their friends' profiles which is an extremely popular thing to do on this site. It would only be a call out if it came with an explicit "don't get art from these people" line. Besides, I see plenty of people utilizing this already and they haven't been banned/suspended because of it.

Yea I see "owed art" lists on people's profiles or journals all the time, I doubt Tarkeen will have any issue from the admins

Making a list is fine. The way you wrote it seemed you were going to call them out. That's the no no. You can't slander someone even when they deserve it. You'll be fine as long as you don't trash talk anyone.

I am well aware. I've been on here for a hot minute.

I appreciate the concern either way!

You're quite welcome!

I agree with you here. What other type of business is there where the payee can make the payer wait months or years on a product after accepting payment? The fandom is full of very nice people but sometimes that can be a huge fault.

"I don't want to bug the artist."
"I'm sure the artist is very busy with RL stuff."
"The artist just got out of the hospital after their 23 nervous breakdown this year."
"The artist took on too many commissions at once and I'll just have to wait my turn."

It's a bunch of BS. A very popular artist took my money over a year ago and has since been posting commissions from people that came after me. I'm going to send them one more note before I take a similar recourse.

Good call. Its best to keep an eye out for your own money. If they are not giving you anything for it, its not worth them holding onto indefinately.

I had to do that recently, I had heard that the artist I commissioned had outstanding pieces for someone else I ran into on FA for over a year and that's just... A red flag.

When I haven't seen as much as a sketch in almost five months and the chargeback deadline gets close? Yeah, I'm pulling the trigger. Especially if there are a lot of empty promises about getting it done or I see them finishing other peoples stuff. I could almost swear some artists use gullible commissioners as loans they might not have to pay for because as soon as they go past the chargeback deadline how many furries are willing to put in the effort to press charges or get together for a class action small claims? Lol